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Perilous Piers
Perilous Piers is a "ray-and-gun" level from Cuphead. It can be found on the far right hand side of Inkwell Island Three, just before reaching "High Sea Hi-Jinx". Starting from a strictly horizontal gamut, randomly spawning flying fish enter from the left and right sides of the screen, with parry-able pink variants every so often. Two hits from a pea shooter are enough to pop them. Two barnacles who shoot projectiles in threes, two arching left and right and one straight up and at varying heights dependent on the vertical position of the player, sit on a plane relative to the player and on a box a short hops distance from the ground. These require a full charged shot to kill. From the box there are urchins running around on a descending staircase. A coin hovers above the first incline that requires a dash or parry to acquire. Be sure to random flying fish and a third barnacle at the penultimate step. Massive (invincible) crabs with platforms on their backs walk an elongated straight of land, which is also populated by urchins. Around midway through, a coin is floating at a height which requires the help of a crab or parry. Flying fish cease at the end of the boardwalk and the beginning of the pier. Now, precarious jumps are required lest the player fall into the water for one damage. On the first pier an urchin is walking (it mightn't be best to kill him to prevent hassle from an impending threat). Now, Captain Krustacean, a massive lobster with beard, will back stroke toward the player. Either jump or smoke-grenade through him. Upon reaching the apex of his backstroke he fires a lighting bolt that heads toward the location that the player was standing at beforehand. Only after taking two charged shots worth of damage will Captain Krustacean relent into the sea again. Beware: he will return upon entering new sections of the area. Further, starfish (some parry-able) float upward from the bottom of the screen. At the end of the first pier lies a buoy topped with a parry-able signal light; you must parry it to get the coin above. To its right, another barnacle. Using a box suspended by a crane, left of the barnacle, may prove advantageous for dealing with vollies from the aforementioned barnacle and Captain Krustacean. Next, another box is suspended to bridge the piers. A pink starfish will float up in front of another buoy, prime for building Super on the way across to a lone post. Now reaching the boat, The Zillian, Captain Krustacean will leave for good. Check inside the interior for the fourth coin. On top, a final urchin scurries. Platforms in the form of an octopus holding floatsam driftwood; these require dashing to reach. An octopus at the end is impaled by an anchor topped by a parry-able gem. To get it moving, parry the gem and the octopus will shoot cannon ball to destroy the rock. A shark-like disembodied head will begin firing slow moving energy balls, one at the zethith of Cuphead's jump height and another level with the player's standing position. Tiny octopus legs begin to hurl toward the player from the right side of the screen at 45 degree angles; use the eight-shot or homing shot to kill them efficiently, and watch for pink ones. Most importantly, be sure to continue parrying the pink gem or the octopus will sink! Further, it is best to parry the gem to dodge the shark-head's energy low-flying energy ball. The final coin will appear just before the end of the level. A well timed parry from either a tentacle or the anchor is required After an exhasperating amount of time, the octopus reaches land. Jump to it and you win. (It is my opinion that this is the worst level in the game, mainly because of the random number generated flying fish. The player is punished for running through a level and rewards idleness. Sometimes the fish appear off screen to halt a run which no amount of reflexes or memorization could've prevented.)